Calvin & Hobbes - Best Buds

This became my favorite of all time when I first saw it and it should become yours too. I made a copy of it and have it pinned on my bulletin board in the Bunny Barn.

Pet Reversal

A day in the life of a rabbit. Have you ever wondered what it might be like? I sure have. I know what they do, what they eat, how they act, there moods, and so on, but what would it really feel like? Would you be miserable, happy you could sleep all day if you wanted, or maybe something else? Think about it though, is changing places with your pet, (in a fantasy type world), a good idea?

Let's say you got to change places for a day. You are laying in a pile of hay, on your back with your paws stuck outward and feeling like a king or queen of the bunny world. So relaxing! Then, you get an itch on your back and you can't reach it. Oh crap! You rub and rub your back against the cage but the itch is still there. Misery! Your owner comes in and see's you are acting funny and thinks you are either hungry or need some love, like most owners do and think. You wag your butt at your owner hoping he or she will scratch your itch, but no, they instead insert a pile of food into your feeding bin that looks more like rabbit poop than what you were used to eating. You poke your nose up at your owner begging for a scratch of relief and all you get is a tap on the head a few times, then he/she walks way. You are screwed as your itch is still there!


You continue your scratching against the cage, wagging your butt harder and harder trying to reach the itch, but all it is doing is getting the attention of the other rabbits and they could care less about your itch. lol You stop and take notice of the other rabbits staring at you, most with that rabbit gleam in there eyes, and now you know you are really up a creek without a paddle. First the itch, now a bunch of, let's say...horny...rabbits wanting you.

It's not looking to well now, now is it? lol Do you really want to be your pet? I doubt it. I mean, what would you do if in that position? Think about it the next time you might want to be your pet for a day. Imagine mosquitoes, fleas, and ticks having a field day in your fur. The thought of it gives me shivers.

If I had to put a "moral to a story" here, it would be to scratch and love your pet all over and not a couple pats only on there head. They can't speak and I know they have itches they can't reach, like many of my cats, and when I scratch them all over, they love it and give me love back, just as my rabbits do. Make there day with some much needed love and you will be rewarded.

Happy Trails

Bunny heaters and other stuff

Gosh, it's been 3 months since I was last here? How time flies...I had no idea it had been that long. I have been extremely busy with my new career choices, plus my rabbits keep me as busy as anything along the way.

Last week it got real cold here in Florida. 28 degrees is frigid to me so you know it was down right miserable for my rabbits. I knew it was going to be getting cold so two days before it got here, I checked the heaters in the Bunny Barn to make sure they were working. Would you believe they would not even come on. I went into panic mode as they were brand new. I called the company that installed them and they sent a repairman out to see what the problem was. Turns out, the breakers were off in the electric panel. Duh! I felt like a total idiot. While the repairman was here, he checked out the units to make sure they were working and they were. He didn't even charge me for checking them and believe it or not, he paid me. Yep, he left a donation for the rabbits and I tell you now, I was speechless and happy at the same time. I usually get charged for everything that needs to be worked on. Thank you Mr. repairman. People like him are rare to encounter. I'm glad I checked them in advance now or I might have had a lot of frozen bunnies, which means dead ones. If that had happened, I think I would have hung myself. It taught me to make sure things work beforehand though, and anyone reading this should do the same when in a similar situation.

At my last count, I had 285 rabbits. That's 32 less than last month which means someone is getting early Christmas presents. I hate when they have to leave, but I'm also happy at the same time as they are getting healthy and happy rabbits either for themselves or as gifts. They make great gifts for someone that is used to being busy and want a great pet. I don't recommend them as a gift to lazy "don't want to do anything people" though, as the rabbits need a lot of care and love.

Happy Trails

Wildlife Fun

How is college life, you might be wondering? I have no idea as I have not started yet. I was suppose to start at the end of last month but I let that slip by on purpose. Dumb decision? Maybe, maybe not.

I was offered an internship with the Wildlife Dept., working with wild animals. I really did think it over a lot and sat down with my family and friends as they poured out concern over this new adventure I was offered. It's one of those decisions that can either make you or break you, as one family member put it. Believe me, it wasn't an easy decision at all, and I can always go to college next year and I will have much more knowledge as well for the veterinarian course. This to me was an opportunity to not let slip away. I love animals, wild or not, and I think I've made the right decision.

I did accept the program and I'm having a blast with it so far. What can be better than spending a couple days out in the wild with wild Florida panthers? Not many people can say they have done that. I think the ones in charge of this program are rather shocked, as most girls I know would never walk up to a snake and pick it up. lol I knew what it was before I picked it up, then I showed it to everyone with a big smile. lol They call me "snake charmer" now. lol If it were a diamond back or something, I would have never even gone near it. I wonder what they would be calling me then? haha

Does this internship give out homework? Yes they do, but not like you might think. All I do is read a lot mostly and they ask you questions while out with the group in nature. I'm loving it so far and it only keeps me away from my loved ones a couple days a week. I do have a link to my bunny cams while I'm away, so don't get any bright ideas about trying to take them....lol

Happy trails! :)

The Bunny Thief

I know it's been two months since my last post but I have been super busy this summer.

After Megan and I got back from our fabulous trip to Ireland, in which we stayed an extra week, my to do list grew from 20 things to over 80 things to do before college started. To make things short, I never got any of those things done that I wanted to do being a certain person wanted to make my life interesting.

I will back up a bit. While I was away for 5 weeks, 15 of my rabbits up and went missing. Not all at one time either. No one even realized it until I arrived back home and I counted them. I was frantic for the first time in my life being I had never had a miscount like I had. I counted them 10 times and came up with the same number each time. I checked the receipts of the adopted ones and still the count was off. I began looking around the bunny barn to see if there was a hole of some kind where they might be getting out, Nope. No holes, no nothing. I was puzzled!

On to Belfast and other stuff

I'm sorry I have not updated here in awhile but we have been having some internet problems of late. I posted something here last week with my phone but I see it's not here. Nothing is here that I sent through my phone and that stinks because I didn't save it on my phone. I thought I saved it here though so I don't know.

Tomorrow we are headed to Belfast to meet Megan's grandpa who has lived there since birth. We are not making this trip by ourselves like most of the trips through the many cities here have been so far. Megan's aunt and uncle are driving us up and we will be there until Monday, then we head back here to Dublin for the rest of the week before we head home next Friday. Honestly, I don't want to go home. I love it here! (don't tell my bunnies this though) hehe

I'll write more later tonight when I have more time to write.

Thanks for all the comments while I have been away. They make me smile to read them. :)

Happy trails!

In Dingle - Ireland

We are in Dingle, Ireland this week and have been here since Monday. We have a place right on Dingle Bay and it's awesome looking over into the water each day, even though it's been cloudy, windy and cool most of the time. I think the high was maybe 58 today. That's cold to me but it's been worth the trip.

I could live here in an instant. It is so beautiful and relaxing here that I know I, or we, could live here and be very happy. Everywhere we go it's a bright green, meaning it's very wet here. The grass and trees look so healthy and happy. I love it so far. The locals have been just as pleasant and nice too. I feel like I'm in heaven at times.

Hi from Ireland

We made it! Woohoo!

Ugh....this 5 hour time difference in Ireland is not something I can get used to. It's currently a little after 1am and my body clock says it's a little after 8pm the day before. Who goes to bed that early? I have tried and all I end up doing is tossing and turning, then I just get up and read or watch the telly. After a month of this I might finally adjust but then when we get home, I will be 5 hours ahead!

We arrived on time Friday night and we have been having a great time so far. It's beautiful here but it's on the cool side for this Florida native. It's been nice during the day but it cools down to the 50's at night. 50's in the summer? I'm used to the lows being 82 degrees at night in my hometown. I knew it was going to be cooler here so I did pack some things for that.

So far we have just stayed around Megan's grandma's house and drove some through Dublin. Tomorrow we are planning on driving around more and seeing more of the city and its surroundings and find some time to do some shopping too.

That's about it so far. I have to try and get some sleep so I will be worth a poop tomorrow. I yawned just now so that's a start. lol

Happy trails!

Ireland Bound & Oiled Turtles

Ireland

Tomorrow morning we leave for Ireland for a month!! Woohoo!!  It's about time too. We have been wanting to go for the last 6 months and the time to go is about here. It's about 10 hours flying time total with a 1 1/2 hour layover in Atlanta. I'm sure we will sleep most of the trip being the only thing out the windows will be water, which is what I usually do on long trips. As excited as I am right now about going, I doubt I will sleep much tonight, on the plane, or even when we get there until like 2 days later. lol

I will be updating my blog while in Ireland.

Turtles in Gulf of Mexico

Megan and I, along with our friends Nick and Brad, did some volunteer work with the U.S. Wildlife Department in Mississippi since last week. I called them to see what we could do for them through my grant for my bunnies, being I'm sponsored thru the Florida Wildlife Dept. and they gave me a list of needs, info on obtaining access, etc., and when we got there, I cried. Oh my gosh! I had never seen so many turtles covered in oil like what we saw in front of our eyes. They were so helpless. The workers put us to work, first showing us how to clean them, handle them, etc., and we spent 5 days cleaning countless turtles. I still have oil in my skin (I had gloves on too) from the many turtles I cleaned and got to know real well. Each turtle that came my way, I named myself as each one were like little friends thanking me for taking the time to help them out. I enjoyed every last minute of what I did for them.

Being this trip to Ireland has been planned for the last 6 months and everything has been paid for in advance, that is the only reason we are going. If not for that, I would stay where we were in Mississippi cleaning and cleaning until every last turtle was spotless, then move on to the many birds and other mammals in the area that need our help too. I do plan on returning after our trip, but it will have to be a short stay being my own bunnies need me too.

The oil problem in the water is not going away with a blink of an eye, so maybe you can help out to if you have some free time. Call your local wildlife depts and fisheries, and help out our little friends of the world.

Happy trails!

No news is good news...

No news is good news...right? I hope so as I don't have anything to blog about really. It's been a busy week around here as usual with 2 part time jobs going and taking care of the bunnies. Life sure did get busier after graduating. Geesh...

Megan and I leave for Ireland next Friday. I think we started packing last week. lol I am so ready to go too. I'm so eager to go that my heart pounds wildly just thinking about it. Am I overeager? I think so. I get this way when going to places I've never been before or doing something I really want to do. I guess everyone is like this or maybe it's just me. I don't know. I do know I'm very excited about the trip.

The rain barrels are doing good that we installed last month. Being it pours down rain here everyday for about thirty minutes each and every day lately, they are filling up fast and working like they are supposed to do. I sure wish we had installed these a couple years ago.

That's about it from me. I'm writing this on my break at work. lol

Happy trails!

Wild Rabbits Video

This is an amazing video of a wild rabbit family living in a ladys backyard garden. In the video, which is in German, you can see the rabbits building a nest and the mama bunny digging out and nursing the babies. Unfortunately, the mama bunny was very sick (you can see that her left eye is infected). She later died, but the babies did survive.

The babies are sooo cute!



Video courtesy of The House Rabbit Society through YouTube.

Rabbits Mutilated

I was reading through the news tonight and this hit me straight in the face!

Friday, June 11, 2010
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. (AP) -- A 23-year-old Massachusetts man has been arrested in the mutilations and killings of five pet rabbits at a construction company.

The Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals says Wayne C. Brackett was arrested Friday on charges including animal cruelty and killing an animal. North Adams police say an attacker broke into Berkshire County Construction on Tuesday and killed five of 17 rabbits being raised by the owners' 6-year-old daughter. Nine rabbits are unaccounted for. The Massachusetts SPCA has said one animal was stabbed several times. SPCA Sgt. Roy Sutton says Friday's arrest followed a review of surveillance tape.

This just makes my blood boil! What makes a person do this to helpless animals and to make it worse, he did it to a 6 year old girls pet rabbits that she was raising?? It's one thing to not like certain animals, as we all have animals we like and dislike, but to break in and kill them for no reason? What possesses a person to be this mean? Drugs? Alcohol? Just plain mean?

I don't know what the laws are in Massachusetts for cruelty to animals but if it's like most states, he won't get what he deserves which is not enough time in jail. Too many cases like this one go unpunished or lack the proper sentences. To me, killing any living creature for no reason what so ever is the same as killing a person, and this person should be held accountable for the same punishment.

 Just think what he might do next if he is not punished properly. Kill a kid? Is that next on his mean streak? It could be, as we never know about people like this. They usually start small and work upwards. Thankfully he was caught now, but he will bail out and be among us law abidding people in a matter of days, which is a place I don't want him to be in, but there is nothing I can do to keep him locked up. I wish it were my choice what his sentence would be. Boiled in water comes to mind. lol Un-happy trails to this monster!

Giant Walkingstick

The Giant Walkingstick is the largest Walkingstick species in North America measuring in at anywhere between 75mm and 150mm (5.91 inches to 7.09 inches). Their camouflage is so good in fact that one can often miss these dazzling creatures in the wild.

Identifying features are that they are red to brown and in some cases a shade of green in color. Colors will seem to become lighter near the rear legs.

These insects are generally found throughout the midwest and southeast areas of the US and feed within forests and grasslands on various greenery.

Like its counterpart, the Northern Walkingstick, the Giant Walkingstick female will lay individual eggs over the winter in hidden areas on the ground such as dead or dying leaves and foliage. Hatchlings will push through their egg casings in about late spring, which then make their way upwards to edible greens. With only about one generation produced a year, Giant Walkingsticks stay active in the later hours of the day where their movement may not be so noticeable to predator and prey alike.

The scientific name for the Giant Walking Stick is:
(Megaphasma dentricus)

They can be found in Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, Florida, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, and Iowa.

I have always found insects to be some of the most interesting forms of life on our planet. Most are scared of us and run away, but some standfast and hold their ground, like the walking sticks. They don't call it a walking stick for nothing, as it looks just like a stick laying on the ground and sticks don't move.

Happy trails!

Going to Ireland

I thought I would give you some information on my upcoming 30 day trip to Ireland with my best friend Megan. Megan was born in Ireland and moved here to the US when she was 10. She is 18 now too. We have been best friends for the last two years and her dream has been to go back home and visit her grandparents, so we came up with this idea of going to Ireland back in December of last year as a sort of getaway before college.

It's been a long 6 months of planning, getting money together, and getting all the reservations placed, but we are finally ready and all plans are set in stone. We were thinking of cancelling this trip when the ash clouds started making traveling by plane impossible, but all seems okay right now.

We leave for Dublin in two more weeks! Woohoo! Megan's grandma lives in Dublin and we are going to stay with her for the first week of our trip. We have a car reserved and waiting on us so we can go where we want. After the first week, we leave by car to Dingle, which is in the southwest corner of the island. We have a townhouse reserved in Dingle which is located overlooking the water on Dingle Bay. The place is supposed to be one of the best places to stay in Dingle as it's like a three room condo with all the goodies, two stories, fireplace, full kitchen, and so on. We got a great price on the place and it's been paid in full by our families.

After Dingle, we leave to just drive around the next week exploring the island and seeing the many castles and other places we want to see. We plan on spending a lot of time shopping too! We love to shop!

Once we get back to Dublin again, we will be staying with Megan's grandma again for a few nights, then we are headed to Belfast in northern Ireland to visit Megan's grandpa. We are going with Megan's aunt and uncle to Belfast and stay at her grandpa's for a couple days, touring the many places we want to see in that part of Ireland.

I plan on updating my blog while we are on our trip, but I can't guarantee an everyday blog. We will make an effort to make that happen though. My laptop will be making the trip so I do plan on updating when I can and able to.

Happy trails!

Found At Sea - AMEN!

Abby has been found alive! Woohoo!



I was so worried about her that I barely slept much last night. It's great to hear she is alive but she is not out of danger yet as she has no mast on her boat. She has plenty of food and water, but no way to steer the boat. That's like driving down hill with no tires! Keep her safe God.

Happy trails!

Jacques Cousteau Friday

Do you even know who Jacques Cousteau is? You should! He was the man of the deep sea and oceans to me. He was also a French naval officer, explorer, ecologist, filmmaker, inventor, innovator, scientist, photographer, author and researcher of all ocean life. He was born in 1910 and died in 1997.

Starting on Friday the 11th, TMC (Turner Movie Classics) is having an all day marathon of his 1 hour specials he did back in the '70's. Way before my time but I have seen most of them that I got from the public library for school projects and just for myself, as he was very interesting to watch and learn about.


This is the schedule I got from the TMC website. All times are Eastern Time.

6:00 AM - The Cousteau Odyssey: The Nile - Part One
7:00 AM - The Cousteau Odyssey: The Nile - Part Two
8:00 AM - The Cousteau Odyssey: Calypso's Search For Atlantis - Part One
9:00 AM - The Cousteau Odyssey: Calypso's Search For Atlantis - Part Two
10:00 AM - The Cousteau Odyssey: Time Bomb at Fifty Thousand Fathoms
11:00 AM - The Cousteau Odyssey: Mediterranean - Cradle or Coffin?
12:00 PM - The Cousteau Odyssey: Calypso's Search for the Britannic
1:00 PM - The Cousteau Odyssey: Diving for Roman Plunder
2:00 PM - The Cousteau Odyssey: Blind Prophets of Easter Island
3:00 PM - The Cousteau Odyssey: Clipperton - The Island That Time Forgot
4:00 PM - The Cousteau Odyssey: Lost Relics of the Sea
5:00 PM - The Cousteau Odyssey: The Warm Blooded Sea - Mammals
6:00 PM - Jacques Cousteau: The First 75 Years (2 hr. special)
8:00 PM - Sharks
9:00 PM - Whales
10:00 PM - Sunken Treasure
11:00 PM - The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau: Mystery of the Hidden Reef
12:00 AM - The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau: The Sound of Dolphins
1:00 AM - The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau: The Flight of the Penguins

I plan on watching a few of them and will most likely record the rest of the them for a later time. Anyone else interested in this type of nature? I find it very interesting and always have.

Happy trails!

Missing At Sea

I'm so sad right now.

My friend and fellow blogger Abby Sunderland is missing at sea. She had been trying to circle the globe in her sailboat which left California in January. She is missing somewhere in the Indian Ocean 400 miles from the nearest ship and farther than that from the nearest landmass. Talk about being out in the middle of nowhere. Rescue efforts are in effect to locate her as she switched on two of her emergency beacons early this morning.





Please pray she is found and found safe too. I have cried deeply over this and I'm very concerned for her safety being she is so far from help. The nearest ship is over a day away.

You can follow updates of Abby on her blog, which is here. Her mom is doing the updates.

This is the lastest from CBS news. Click here to read.

Please God, help her. Keep her safe until help arrives.

Gulf Oil Spill - Wake Up!

I'm really concerned about this oil spill in my neck of the woods. I never thought I would see the day where our white sandy beaches would maybe turn black one day. Our neighbors to the north of me are experiencing this black crap that is washing up on their shores though. Why? Why has it even been allowed to progress that far? I thought they had booms out catching it. I guess not when I see it on the news and from my friends who live near Pensacola, as they both show tar balls and black crap washing in with nothing keeping it from doing just that.

I feel worse for the poor little animals and fish that can do nothing about it. They are dying! Does anyone even recognize that word? Dying! They are dying!! Wake up you money hungry thieves and politicians! What does it take to wake them up? If people were dying, which I'm sure some will, will that wake them up? I doubt it being money is all I hear about this crappy oil slick. I don't get paid to go out and help animals. I do it because I love and care about them. Do any of our politicians care? I don't see it. Put me in charge of this oil cleanup and I guarantee I will take action no matter what the cost is. Atleast I will do more than what has been done, which isn't much or not enough to please me or anyone else living near this crap.

All my whys:

Why is a British oil company drilling in our neck of the woods anyway?
Why doesn't our President kick BP out and we do the cleanup?
Why are there no booms stretching from the Keys to Louisiana?
Why are so many brown pelicans being shown drenched in oil?
Why are turtles being shown dead and dripping in oil?
Why are the marsh lands in Louisiana shown covered in oil when booms are out?
Why? Why? Why? I could go on forever.

It's sad. It's sad that we are so advanced in technology that we can't even stop a leak. Didn't anyone think of this before they drilled the hole? Again...No! Money was on their mind only. Our government spends billions and billions of money on an army that tramples around the world looking for a man that can't be found, but they can't do the same for poor animals that can't defend for themselves. It's just sad!

I have called the wildlife dept in north Florida to see if they need help in cleaning the birds and all the other animals being affected by this disaster and they said come on up at anytime. I will be doing just that real soon. If anyone reading this cares about animals as I do, you will do the same and volunteer your time to help these helpless animals that the money hungry oil people have hurt. It's not the cost. It's care. Do you care? The animals need our help. Please help them! Please!

Happy trails!

I'm Free!

Hi everyone! (I'm waving)

Well, I graduated from high school last week (woohoo) and we had our graduation exercises last Friday (May 28th). WooHoo! I passed all my exams with none less than a 92 grade, so now I'm free. I was so happy that I think I cried for a couple days. I will miss all my classmates as most of us have spent our entire school years together ever since first grade. That is the one thing I loved about going to a private school, was the close friendships and the small classes too. Most are headed off in opposite directions going to colleges all over the US and some overseas. I'm staying local to go to school for a couple years, then will be heading off to a bigger college. My best friend Megan is staying local too, so that is great news. We will be going to the same college this fall, just different classes.  

What have I been doing since I last posted here 3 weeks ago? Plenty! After the graduation party last week, a bunch of my friends and I went on a small getaway for a couple days. We went down to Naples, Florida to relax, lay on the beach alot, and party a little too. We came back last Sunday, the day before Memorial Day, so we could all spend time with our families, then I flew up to see my grandma on Tuesday morning for a short trip and came back today. She doesn't have a computer and I didn't take my laptop or I would have written something here by now.

My friend Megan and I leave for Ireland in 3 weeks for our 1 month summer getaway and that is something we have been looking forward too since January of this year. We were thinking of cancelling it because of all the ash clouds and it's still not a sure thing right now. I watch the news everyday to see what that volcano is doing so we can go see the world. If we can't go, well, we have planned another place just in case, but we really want to go to Ireland. Not much else can take its place.

Other than that, it's back to full time duty with the bunnies. I have missed being around them and I have planned all of next week to do some reorganizing, painting, and some other things to make life better for them all. I'm still working the part time job at night, which I start back at this Monday night.

That's about it from me right now as I'm more busier now than before I graduated. That's life, right?

Happy trails!

One down, five to go

Wow, what an exam that was this morning. My brain feels like it has been robbed of all of its memory. More like a brain-freeze! How do I think I did? Deep down, I think I passed with flying colors to be as truthful as I can be. It was hard, but not as hard as I thought it might be and that's good, because Physics is one of my hardest classes. It's not a required subject, I selected it at the beginning of the school year as just something I might want to know more of, as I had 2 choices to fill in my 6 subject school day. Tomorrow is another tough day with two exams, advanced calculus and english 12. Having both on the same day will most likely numb my brain for the entire day afterwards, I'm quite sure of that.

It is nice being out of school this early, but that only means to hit the books and study some more. I may get to it after lunch..no..more like after dinner. I need a break anyways. A smoothie break! Yeah!! Anyone want one? lol

Happy trails everone!

Exam Week

Hello everyone!

The past week has been a rough one for me and it's only going to get rougher this coming week, as it's exam week. I have 6 exams to take this week, 1 today (Monday), 2 on Tuesday, 1 on Wednesday, and 2 on Thursday. There is no school on Friday or next Monday. Yea! I will be drained by then anyway. This is the one thing I like about private school, they give you many days off before you find out your grades, which will be next Tuesday. That is the day that is circled on my calendar. Graduate or not day, is what I call it. I plan on graduating! No summer school for me! Graduation exercises are next Friday, another important day circled on my calendar. Freedom!!

I need to go feed the bunnies and get some chores done before my first exam class at 8am. Physics is my first exam, so wish me luck!

Happy trails!

Great Canadian Beaver Dam

Has anyone read or heard about this monster of a dam some beavers have been building since the 1970's? I heard something about it earlier this week and didn't pay too much attention to it right away, that is until I heard it was over 3 football fields long! I decided to do some research on it when I heard that, as it seemed far fetched when I first heard it.

From what I have found out, this beaver dam is located in Wood Buffalo National Park which is in Alberta Canada. It's being called the worlds largest beaver dam as it's 2,788 feet long (850 meters). That is HUGE in my department! The only way to see the dam is by air, as there is nowhere to land by plane near it, and it's so far out in the middle of nowhere, that no one can get to it that easily, as most of the land is wetlands.

The dam had been constructed from thousands of trees, and if you know anything about dams that us humans have built, it's twice the length of the Hoover Dam, which is on the Nevada/Arizona border. The beaver dam can also be seen from space.

Finding pictures of this dam has been difficult and that proves it's hard to get to it. I have found a few small pictures of it using Google search and that's the best I have found so far.

These pictures might not look like much, but you have to remember that this is a wetlands dam. They are a little different than river dams, but still, look at all the trees the beavers have taken down to make this dam of theirs.

I think it's awesome looking, but it's bad news for anything downstream of it though.

Spiders: Brown Recluse

The most common spider around here is the Brown Recluse, also known as a Violin Spider. These spiders love to hide in loose piles of debris, like wood piles, corners of a garage, under your lawn mower or if indoors - in furniture, closet corners and folded clothing. I found one last night just outside of the Bunny Barn in our pile of sticks we give to the bunnies to chew on. I'm not usually that jumpy around insects, but this spider in an exception as they are poisonous to humans and these pesky insects tend to strike when disturbed or threatened by humans. I wasn't bitten, it just put me on the defensive to find it and kill it, which I did.

If you are bitten by one of these spiders, seek medical attention immediately. This is not to be taken lightly, as the wound can take months to heal and it leaves a deep crater like shape on you, if not treated properly. This picture of a bite on this man is horrible looking, but you will look the same if not treated. You have been warned.

Use common sense when moving anything outdoors, as they are usually close by even when you might think they are not.

This image is not a fake to scare you any!

Rabbit in La-La Land

This was written by a friend over on the House Rabbit Society's website and I wanted to share it here with everyone, mainly with Caryn, as this story reminded me of what your bunny was doing while you were away. lol Not that it's funny when a bunny rips up your carpet and puts you further in debt, but this story from the rabbits point of view is very funny.

Rabbit in La-La Land
Written by Helen Weiss

Hello, I'm Wabbit, and I own two lovely humans--Sotos and Helen. We all live in a comfortable apartment with a balcony which I also own. When Helen brought me home four years ago I was just a dainty little dame. I let my humans know right away that I was feisty and curious, and with a few exceptions I have always been given free reign of our living room.

When I was young, I gave Helen and Sotos plenty of work around the house. I kept Sotos busy patching carpets and repairing phone cords. For some reason they were constantly devising techniques to prevent me from doing my work. I took great joy in outsmarting them. Oh, I liked chewing on the little pieces of wood bought for me, but nothing was more fun than digging up the carpet or jumping on desks and bureaus to chew up papers and clothes.

I'll never forget the time they tried to prevent me from hopping on the bed. You see, the bed was rabbit heaven: soft blankets and pillows good for hours of cuddling. The only problem was that the blanket and sheets were without holes and required some work on my part. Strangely, Helen and Sotos couldn't see the value in sheets with hundreds of holes. They seemed embarrassed to hang such sheets on the line.

The humans tried draping a barrier of fabric from the ceiling and tucking it under the mattress. To them it looked formidable, but when they were asleep or away, I just untucked the drapery with my wonderful teeth and went about my shredding business. They got irritated and took turns shooing me off the bed, but as far as I was concerned they slept too much--and there was work to be done. Five- foot board barriers were next. That was easy. Using the nightstand as a springboard, I jumped over the boards and landed plop in the middle of the bed.

In my mature years I give Sotos and Helen less work. I still teach slow people the right way to play Scrabble, but whereas I used to flip their racks into the air, sending their tiles flying into a real scrabble, today I am content with gently lifting the corner of the board. I have even stopped chewing on the phone and electric cords. Mellowness, though, has not diminished the amount of love, licking and laughter that I give.

All in all I am happy and healthy, and gets lots of attention. I do wonder what life would be like if I shared it with a long-eared short-tailed darling. I daydream about bunny love in my spare time--on breaks from my busy schedule.

Rabbits For Dummies

Okay, I know what you might be thinking, but this book is the best reference book for everything you ever wanted or needed to know about rabbits. I have the first edition and I just bought this second edition tonight. I know just about everything about rabbits, but even knowledgeable people need books of reference from time to time too. Look at all the doctors and surgeons of the world and see how many books they each have. More than I can count, that's for sure. You don't have to be a dummy to read this book, unless you think you are one. lol I feel like one sometimes.

Of all the books I do have on rabbits, I use this book more than any of the others. It's paperback and that's a plus for me, as hardbacks are hard to keep the pages open to a spot you need to stay open without putting something on the page to keep the page from turning. Borders has it for $17.00 and it has 368 pages. All rabbits are listed with details of each one, feeding, bedding, training them, and even how to groom them properly.


Happy reading and happy trails!

Barbie Doll Collector

The more you read my blog, the more you will learn about me. :)

As my many friends will tell you, I am a huge barbie doll fan and collector for my age. I have two of the very first barbie dolls that my mom had back in 1959 when they were created. One is still in the original box. Every year she would collect the new series and store them away. When I turned 8 my mom gave me the whole collection and I was in heaven until she told me I couldn't play with them. What a drag that was.

Now that I am older, I can see her point as they are worth a lot in the original box and mine has never been opened. The original is worth over $4,000 and up to $10,000 from what a person from Mattel has told me in a letter. Mattel makes the dolls.

To date I have a little over 2,100 different dolls. Yes, I am serious. Last year was the special 50th Anniversary and I got all 28 dolls in that series for my birthday. I was blown away as I had never gotten that many at one time before. I also have 14 barbie houses and dream houses, 8 barbie cars and too many sets of clothes for each doll. I have 2 Ken dolls too. Hey, she had to have a date you know? lol Each doll in encased in an individual airtight container and I have a hutch that holds them all.

Barbie's real name is Barbara Millicent Roberts and was created by Ruth Handler, who died in 2002. (RIP!)

This is a remake of the original in 1959 that was released last year for the 50th Anniversary.

This one is the 50th Anniversary doll. It sold last year for $60 brand new and already it has rocketed up to over $300 in just one year. Amazing!

Bunny Babysitter

This is very interesting.

I was in class today and my phone buzzed. That never happens when I'm in class, as I keep it on in case of an emergency. When I saw who the call was from, I immediately asked my teacher if I could be excused, which she gladly said I could be. I called the person back expecting bad news, but was asked a question instead. I was very relieved nothing bad had happened, but I did question why I was called during class as this person knew I was in class. To make this shorter, I was asked if I could babysit a mans rabbits while he went out of town for an emergency. I said, "what? you called me to ask that?" It turns out the man who wanted his rabbits cared for while out of town needed an answer now, so my caller considered that an emergency. Ok, well whatever, that's not an emergency to me, but I did tell him I would care for his rabbits if only he either brought them to me or I would pick them up.

It turns out the man wanted me to come to his house each day while he was gone and care for them, and I told him I couldn't do that. He offered to pay me triple to do it and I still told him I couldn't do that. I don't go to strangers houses or anyones place of residence for that matter while they are out of town for a couple of reasons, which I told him, but he about begged me to do it for him. I don't think he understood what NO meant. I don't have the time to go all over town feeding rabbits. Bringing them to me or me picking them up to be cared for is much easier, as everything I need to care for them is right here. Finally, he agreed to drop them off after much debate. I understand his concern for them, but he has to understand my schedule too. Anyways, 5 more rabbits will be joining us for the next 10 days or so as guests. I will have to put them in our holding area so no one gives them away. lol

Happy trails!

Thoughts and Thanks

Thoughts and thanks from lilBunny: < thats me. lol

It looks as though Blogger finally got my messages and fixed my sticking blog. My blog page would stick in a holding pattern for about ten seconds when the page was first opened and it stayed that way for weeks. It was driving me insane, so I wrote to Blogger three times about it. I have not been here that much in the last week, but I don't have the sticking pages anymore which means they must have finally fixed it. Thanks Blogger!

Since I opened this blog in late March, I have had 432 visits. I don't know if that's good or bad, I just want to say thanks to everyone that does visit here on a daily basis. I have had 56 comments in that time, all good, and thanks for those too. I love comments!

I'm down to days now, not weeks, before I graduate from high school. WooHoo! Counting today, I have 19 more school days to go. I don't count weekends and never have. Final exams are approaching fast and I have been hitting the books a lot in the past week. I'm looking forward to them, even though they drain my brain entirely. I used to hate taking tests and exams, but this year I have felt so much different about them and looked forward to most of them. I'm not a brainy person, just a person who loves to learn as much as I can. Before high school I used to get like c's and d's all the time. This year has been mostly b's and a couple a's too.

In June, I'm planning on going to Ireland with my best friend Megan. We have been planning it since January and so far, everything is going according to plans as far as reservations, funding, places to stay, car rental, flights, etc. Megan was born in Ireland and has lived here in the states since she was 5. Her and I have been best freinds for the past 2 years. She still has family in Ireland, so we will be staying with them most of the time, and will be getting away on own our own for 10 days to explore the island and just hang out really. The entire trip will be for 30 days! I can't wait until we board the plane to go!

That's about it from me right now. I plan on being here more this week, even with my jam packed schedule for the next month. I hardly have enough room to breathe. lol

Happy trails everyone!

Mini Rex Rabbit

I got a family of 4 mini rex's over the weekend that were given to me from a family that is moving overseas and wanted to write something about them for the ones that have never heard of them.

They are derived from the standard rex breed and the Netherland Dwarf. The one pictured is a tri-color mini rex. This particular breed has many varieties: Black, Blue, Blue Eyed White, Castor, Chinchilla, Chocolate, Himalayan, Lilac, Lynx, Opal, Red, Sable Point, Seal, Tortoise, White, and Otter (blue, black, chocolate, lilac). The fur on them has a plush feel to them, much like velour, which the standard rex has too. They are also one of the easiest rabbits to breed and are very good mothers. They excel in the sport of Rabbit Hopping too. I bet you didn't know that was a sport did you? lol

I will be using them for breeding and their first litter I will be keeping for myself, to add to my already large family of personal pets. All future litters will be for adoptions.

Part Timer

I have taken a part time job as I need some xtra dough. How I was able to squeeze it into my already tight schedule was not easy to do, but I made it happen. The one thing is that it has taken me away from coming here and updating my blog like I was doing. I used to have a couple hours of freedom at night before bed to come here and visit other blogs, but that has been downright impossible the last week. I barely have enough time to eat in between the Bunny Barn and now my new part time job. With school thrown in, all my chores, homework, etc., I'm tired by the time I get home for bed, only to get up 5 hours later. I won't be working weekends, as I can't. That was part of the agreement. What am I doing? I'm the newest cashier at one of our local markets. It's not a bad job and I like it, and that is what counts anyway. I will be doing it for the next two months, then I'm off to Ireland for a month with a friend, then by the time we get back it will be about time for college to start three weeks later. I'm looking forward to that. :)

Happy trails!

We Got Rain!

Oh my gosh, it is pouring down rain outside and it has been that way since I got up this morning. WooHoo! We need it too as it has not rained here in almost 10 days. So far we got a little over two inches and that's a lot of water when draining into barrels. I hope it rains all day long!

We made some modifications to the rain barrels by running some flexible 4" plastic tubing from the gutters into the top of the barrels, then connected them all together as each gutter gets a different amount of rain, and then a friend of ours added a check valve of some kind in each barrel in case they get full, which drains to the nearby holding pond. Awesome huh?! It was worth all the work to get it done too. No more wasted water! No more moving barrels like I used to do either. I am excited about that!

I have only seen our rain barrels full one time in my short life. It was a few years ago when we had 8 days straight of rain, mostly downpours. They were overflowing! Florida is tropical, but that was too tropical for me. We had to move the bunnies up to the second level as water was coming in under the doors and flooding the lower levels. Sink holes were popping up all over the neighborhood and county too. They are scary! In that 8 days of rain storms, we had over 12 inches of rain. Can you believe that? 12" in a week! I don't mind rain, but that is too much. A couple inches of rain I can handle.

Thanks to all my readers and followers. I love you all for reading my jibberish and leaving great comments. They make me smile each time I see them. :)

Happy trails everyone!     

Stories Rabbits Tell

Has anyone read this book? It is great! I just finished reading it this past week and have started re-reading it again, as it tells the story of what rabbits really are to us. I highly recommend it to everyone who love rabbits or just want to know more about them and what they stand for in our culture. Most people approach rabbits as if they were stuffed animals: cute, but not capable of much except maybe eating carrots and twitching their noses. That is not the case with this cuddly animal everyone should get to know better. They are bright and intelligent, much more than you think they are. They are very trainable too and most like to be trained, and not for getting a treat for doing something either. There is a loving side to them, which I see on a daily basis. They love to be loved just as we do. I got this book at Borders and they had as few copies of them. You can click here to read more about it and maybe even get a copy of it. Happy trails!

Busy Week

Where do I start? My gosh this has been the busiest week of the year so far.

I had to get a report done for school and turned in by today which took me 3 weeks to research and complete, so that took up most of my nights. The report is 32 pages long and it's about different kinds of propulsion systems. You read that right. I knew nothing of them before I did the report as we were assigned different subjects by our teacher, which meant taking notes from each place we found the information, designers, technicians, company names, you name it I had to write it down, then when I had that complete I had to type it all. By the time I finished with the notes and typing everything, I had 42 pages of information. I do feel smarter now though. lol

In between the report and my chores, we had the wildlife people here today for the wild bunnies and the fire dept was here this week too for inspection of the Bunny Barn's fire system, which passed by the way. Yea! The Health dept was here yesterday for some kind of inspection which passed as well. Busy, busy!

The wild rabbits that I got last week have been taken south to be released. I hated to see them leave, but I knew they would have to leave sooner or later anyway. They healed up fast too as both were hopping around this morning with ease. I was planning on taking them back myself, but the wildlife dept said they were responsible for releasing them in the same area they were taken from, being they were the ones who found them. I still could have done it as I've done it in the past before. It did save me a gas trip though.

Not much else going on really. I was suppose to go out tonight but I postponed it until tomorrow night as I had some unfinished chores that needed to be done. I know I'm hard on myself but the chore list in mine, one that I made, so I do them no matter what plans they might interfere with, even if that event is a date. He understands. He always has. That's what I love about him, he understands! lol Love you Nick! Thanks!

Happy trails everyone!

Weatherman Blues

Hello everyone! Happy Monday!

I guess the weather people just had a brain freeze or something as now they say we wont get any rain for maybe another week or more. Yesterday they said we would definately get some rain in all parts of the county and we got nothing. Then they said it would rain today and still nothing. Now they say no rain until next week. Now watch, it will rain now that they say it wouldn't. lol Oh well, we got a pond nearby that I can "borrow" some water from. I do this every year anyway. hehe

I went ahead and moved the rain barrels back to where they were last night, that way I didn't have to do it this morning before school. I only moved four by the front door as they kind of block the way in and out. All the others can stay in place until it rains so I don't have to keep moving them back and forth. It's not as wet around here like it is during the summer months, so they will most likely stay in place until the fall. Once the barrels by the front door get near full, then I load them on the hand-truck and cart them to the "holding pond" that we keep all the rain water at. It usually gets near full by around mid July. Usually by August we don't need anymore and it just rains and rains until it overflows, then it drains down to the pond where I "borrowed" that water from earlier. lol It all works itself out in the end, even if the weathermen have the blues and brain freezes. lol

Happy trails!

Rain Barrels

I set out our rain barrels today to catch the rain from the gutters and wouldn't you know, it didn't rain. The weather channel said it was suppose to rain this morning and this afternoon and again tonight. Still nothing! I don't mind dragging them 10 big and heavy 50 gallon drums around if it's going to rain, but when it don't rain at all, it doesn't make me happy because now I have to move them back and out of the way. I can leave them in place until in the morning, but if I do that, then I will have to move them in the morning as they sort of block the walkways in and out of the house.

I just checked the weather and now they say it's not going to rain until tomorrow night. I wish they would get the days right as we were told it would rain today. A 60% chance of rain usually means it rains here, but nooo, we don't get a drop. I guess this means I should move the barrels tonight. Shucks! I will try again tomorrow after school and move them in position again, and hopefully it rains tomorrow night as we need the water for the plants. We don't usually use county water for the plants if we can help it. Plants do better with natural water, plus it saves us money.

Happy trails!

Injured Wild Rabbits Update

The two rabbits I went to get yesterday are doing good. The vet checked them out last night and we found out they don't have broken legs. That's good news! They both have severely bruised legs and are resting comfortably in their own little area of the Bunny Barn. They can't have any contact with humans, except to feed them and even that they are being fed rubbish from the wild. The one thing to remember about wild rabbits is to not feed them regular domestic food pellets or grains, or they will get accustomed to it and want it all the time. That is something that can't happen or they could possibly starve themselves to death looking for that same food. We keep a supply of wild nuts and other goodies for the wild rabbits to feed on here.

Other than that, it's been a quiet day around here. We had a couple people stop by and look at a couple bunnies they might want next weekend, and that's about it all day. I kept busy breaking sticks for the rabbits to gnaw on, picked up four bales of fresh hay, restocked the feed, and other normal things I do each weekend. I was going to go out tonight but changed my mind not long ago as I'm pooped. Two of my friends decided to come my way instead, so we are going to watch a movie and just relax! I need it too.

Happy trails! 

Rabbits vs. School

Hello everyone! I have had a busy day today.

Last night I received a phone call from a wildlife officer down in Everglades City who needed me. Wow, I felt special too. I have never had an officer from the wildlife dept. call from that far away before. He wanted to know if I could come down and pick up two wild rabbits that needed help. Usually they take care of this themselves and don't have outside help, but this was a special case as he put it. He said he contacted his office and they gave him my phone number as the closest place that could care for the rabbits. Again, I felt honored. It was a 3 hour drive down there though and I had school today too. I asked if I could come down on Saturday, but he said they needed help now! Turns out both rabbits have broken legs and that made up my mind to call the school and tell them I'm not coming in today.

I jumped in my truck this morning and drove down and picked them up. I called the vet that handles our rabbits on the way back to the Bunny Barn and he is due here soon. For being wild rabbits, they sure are tame to me. I have had each one in my arms and neither has tried to get away. It's almost like they know I'm here to help them. Both were injured in a trap of some kind that the officer found after getting a phone call from someone who had found them. Once the vet sees them and tells me what to do to care for them, they will stay here until they are healed. It will be up to the wildlife dept. on what happens with them next. Usually they are released back into the wild, as most don't live long in captivity. I will have to limit the time they are around humans as I don't won't them getting to used to me being around.

It would seem I'm the only rabbit wildlife rehabilitator between here and Everglades City. I find that hard to believe. I don't mind traveling to pick up any rabbits, but there has to be someone else in the area, or I would hope there is. I need to do some calling around and see who else is licensed to work with wild rabbits. My dad is, but he is here with me, so that's no help. I could have sworn there was another place down there somewhere. Anyway, they are safe for now and now I have chores to do. Oh fun!

Happy trails!

Silver Rabbit

One of the most rarest rabbits is the Silver Rabbit, with just under 200 of them in existance in the US alone. There are 3 Silver varieties - gray, brown, and fawn. I have only seen one of them in my life and that was 2 years ago at a convention in Atlanta. Silvers have been known under many names: Millers, Silver Sprigs, Lincoln Silver, Lincolnshire Silver-Gray, and Riche. They range in weight from 4 to 7 pounds. This rabbit shouldn't be confused with the Silver Fox rabbit, as they are quite different from each other.

This is the only picture I could find of the three of them together. This proves they are rare when I can't even find that many pictures of them. This picture is small. The SRC has a few individual pictures of them.

College Books

I saw this picture online just now and it really got me to thinking about college that is coming up this fall. Look at all of them books! I can picture myself standing and looking at them just as this girl is and thinking to myself, "I have to read and memorize all of these?" The truth is, I will have to do just that. The thought of it now is like being hit in the head with a coke bottle. By the time I do get done with college and get my degree to be a veterinarian I will most likely have read and memorized twice the amont that is shown here. I might just have to multiply it by three or four more times, as I want to become a wildlife surgeon one day. That is my ultimate goal anyway. If none pan out, then my third choice is to be a science/nature teacher, or maybe even a biology teacher. Whatever I plan to be, it will be about animals somewhere down that long path.

Calvin and Hobbes: Amnesia

Has anyone else ever tried the amnesia routine atleast once in there lives? I sure did. It didn't go over that well with my dad either. lol I think all kids try this atleast once growing up.

Handling Rabbits

If you didn't know already, rabbits are prey animals and they consider humans a predator, so when a big predator grabs them and holds them up off the ground where they are used to living, it signals danger unless they have learned to trust you and you have been gentle with them, helping them to feel more secure.

I'm mentioning this because on a daily basis I see potential new owners just pick up any rabbit and hold them up high in the air for some reason. I see this done to cats and dogs at the SPCA too. Why do people do this? Get eye level with these animals on there turf as that is the best way to see them anyways.

Just remember when handling a rabbit for the first time, don't instantly grab it and start playing with it. Lift it up gently if you have to move it. Once the rabbit knows you better and trusts you wont harm it, then it wont mind being picked up. Most rabbits dont like to be picked up anyway, no matter what anyone tells you. The best way to move a rabbit is to lift it up gently and slowly around its body, keeping one of your hands underneath it on its rear legs, then cradle it in your arms. There rear legs are very powerful and if left dangling in the air, they tend to kick. It's an uncomfortable position for them.

That's my tip of the day. Have a great day everyone.

Happy trails! 

Curious Looking Insect

I didn't think school would ever end today. Slow day!

I was over at my friends house last night and they were moving a hot tub from the rear of the house to the side of the house. I was just watching. hehe Anyway, Megan - my best friend - called me over to where she was standing and asked me what this bug is that was under the hot tub. I got down closer to it and I had no idea. I had never seen one like it before. My friends are always asking me what things are as I like nature - including bugs - but this one puzzled me. I went out to my truck and got my magnifying glass so I could look at it better. By the time I got back, there were now about 20 of these little bugs.

I decided to take one with me when I left and take it over to a man I know who knows all about bugs. He knew what it was right away. I knew he would. lol He said it was a "Boisea trivittata", or in normal talk a "Boxelder Bug". He said they were very common around houses that had pressure treated wood nearby and were always found in direct sunlight. I have been around pressure treated wood before and I had never seen this bug before and it was dark out when I first saw it. I think the lights that were being used to move the tub may have attracted the bugs, as he said they don't usually come out in darkness.

Also, Boxelder bugs will secrete a staining dye when crushed, so don't crush them indoors or you might stain something that can't be replaced.

This is the best picture I could find online of them. The are not very big at all. 1/4" to 3/4" long is about as big as they get. Cool looking aren't they? BTW, I returned the one I took. lol

Rabbits: World Total

"How many rabbits are there in the world," asked a friend of mine?

That's a good question and I had no idea when this was asked of me last month by one of my curious friends. All I said was millions. I got to thinking about it more and decided to do some research on it and it has not been easy finding out the true number. I really don't think anyone knows the true total except the one who created them all, being many are in the wild and we don't keep track of them all.

From what I have found out so far, rabbits range from 20 to 500 individual species per square mile. The land area of the Earth is 57,500,000 square miles. Being no one really knows the exact number of rabbits per square mile, you can do the math above and see that there are more than most would have ever known about, including me, even if there were only 20 per square mile. That's alot of rabbits! Being rabbits do not populate the polar regions of the Earth, the land area would be reduced dramically, but still, that is alot of rabbits even without the polar regions included.

Now you know, or atleast to the best of my research and knowledge you do. lol

Happy trails!

Busy Day Sunday part 2

I came home today and called the animal shelter about the lady that came by yesterday, the one who claimed she lost her letter from them, and wouldn't you know they had never heard of her. That just irks me to know she lied to me and was intending to steal one of my bunnies. They are free you know? Why do people go this route in there lives when something is free anyways? We have rules we have to follow through the county that states potential owners have to obtain a letter from them, which is done through the animal shelter we do business with, and all of this is done for health reasons only. It makes me wonder what she had in mind for the bunny now. We do have cameras here so I sent her photo to the animal shelter and the county, then filed a complaint with each. I dont bend the rules for anyone. I would rather just keep them all if people want to be like this person was.

It's alot like going to the SPCA for a cat or dog. You have to fill out paperwork, show who your are, and pay for any shots the animal might need, etc. We waive the fee an owner would have to pay and pay it ourselves. I care about these rabbits. They are like family to me and having someone here that seemed to want to maybe harm one, that just makes me very pissy. You would feel the same if in my shoes, right? I would think so anyway.

How was your day? Good I hope. So far may day has been good with a few more hours of my chores to get done before dark. I took a break to come in here and check up on my blog. I will return after my chore list is complete. See you then.

Happy trails!

Its Monday!

It's hard to believe it's Monday again. No chores until after school today, so that is good news. I don't unsually do them on Monday mornings anyway as I have to be at school a little earlier on Monday's only. Private schools and there rules can really stink sometimes. I wouldn't trade it for anything anyways, as the school has been apart of my life since first grade. Yep, same school and this is my last year. I know I will miss it and my friends as we all head into different directions afterwards. That has to be the hardest part of going to one school your whole life.

After graduation this year, my best friend and I are going to Ireland for 4 weeks. Woohoo! We have been planning it now for close to two months and I'm looking forward to it. More on this later when I have more time to discuss it in details. It's going to be a blast, I know that much. :)

Time for me to get ready for school. I will drop in afterwards.

Happy trails everyone!

Calvin and Hobbes: S#x Appeal

This is too funny.

I would have never thought of putting the words sex appeal and Calvin in the same sentence.

Flemish Giant Rabbit

What's the biggest rabbit? You guessed it, the Flemish Giant. I think the Giant name gave it away. lol I have seen maybe ten of them in the time I have spent caring for rabbits. I wasn't sure what it was when I first saw one either, as they are big. Most average around 15 pounds and can get up to 30 pounds or more. There are seven known colors that I know of; black, blueish, fawn, light gray, steel gray, sandy brown and white.

We don't have any for adoption at the moment, but we did have 2 of them here last year. They were both adopted as a pair. I was happy that happened. I was hoping someone would get them both at the same time.

I'm posting this picture to show how big they really are. This picture has not been photoshoped or anything like that. This is there real size. BIG! Oh, and they love LOTS of carrots. :)

A Busy, Busy Day

Today has been one busy day. I got up earlier than usual to get all my chores done being it's a holiday of sorts, went to church and arrived just as service was starting, went out to eat with friends and family afterwards, then came home and jumped right into the middle of an adoption that someone wanted to make happen today. I only jumped in because as I listened in on the conversation between one of our volunteers and the potential new owner from afar, I needed to make sure the new potential owner was right for the bunny. I have this knack of feeling out good people and something didn't sound right about the person wanting to adopt. I don't just let anyone adopt a bunny.

Most that come to our place for an adoption have some sort of message or letter from the animal shelter we do business with, which can't be obtained on a Sunday as they are closed. To make this short, the potential owner said they got a letter from the animal shelter today but they lost it. Sorry, but that don't cut it with me. I told the person they will have to obtain the original letter or get another one on Monday. The person got huffy then. I just turned around and walked the other way. The person then started yelling at me telling me I knew nothing of rabbits and that no kid was going to just walk away from 'her'. I told her that the bunnies were mine and my rules stick. I then told her again, either show me the original letter or get another one on Monday, then I will speak with her, being the shelter was CLOSED today. She left in a huff.

As I sit here now, I doubt she will be back and I don't want her here if she does come back. This is the first time I have ever had an experience like this with a potential owner. I can only imagine what she would be like with the bunny. No, I don't think I want her back and I sure don't want her mean spirited way around a bunny either. I want our bunnies in a good home. I hope this is the end of this with this mean person.

Other than that, it's been a great day. The bunnies are tucked away for the night and now I'm free! Woohoo!

Happy trails!

Happy Easter

Easter Bunny, soft and white,

Hopping quickly into my sight.

Thank you for the eggs you bring,

At Eastertime we welcome spring.

Easter Bunny, soft and white,

Hopping quickly out of my sight.

Happy Easter Sunday to all my readers.

From all of my bunnies, family, and friends,

we wish everyone a safe and fun filled day.

Happy trails!

Easter Funnies

I found these cute comic funnies in my searches this week while doing some research for homework assignments. Some people have a wonderful talent for making others smile.

We all love chocolate don't we? I sure do and today is the day for all the chocolate bunnies everyone gets to eat. WooHoo! Which part do you eat first? I usually start at the top and work my way down, depending on how big the chocolate bunny is. Even my pal above wants some chocolate, and that proves chocolate is loved by everyone, even the bunnies.

It's also the day to eat many different colored jelly beans, but as my pal above states, don't eat the brown ones. I can't imagine they taste too good. No! Not at all! lol

Energizer Bunny.
This one made me laugh out loud when I saw it. Pooping out batteries is a classic!

Jersey Wooly Rabbit

The most adorable of all types of rabbits to me is the Jersey Wooly. They are very small compared to most other rabbits. They range in size from 2 pounds to a little bit over 4 pounds. The one thing that sets this rabbit apart from others is its hair. It can get very long, most around 3 to 4 inches long. It also requires more attention too as it needs to be brushed quite frequently. They are the most gentle rabbit I know of and are easy to train. This rabbit loves to chew on things, like wires. To keep this from happening for this rabbit and all other rabbits, put a small amount of pepper extract on the item that is being gnawed on, and it will deter rabbits from even going near that spot again.

Blog Names

I have a friend of mine that I go to school with ask me how I came up with the name of my blog. In all truthfullness, the name it has now is the third name. I started with Bunnies by LB, LB being short for my lilBunny name, then I changed it to Heavenly Bunnies as that sounded like something I could live with. It stayed that way until just a couple days ago when a member of my family mentioned the name and said the name Heavenly Bunnies reminded him of a place for Playboy models. Well ok, hmm..I had to think about this more now as I didn't want that crowd here, not that I have anything against them or the magazine. You wont ever see me in it, I know that much. I wanted this blog to be more about everything and not just bunnies, so I sat down and came up with the current name, Bunny Trail to Heaven. We all go down some kind of trail in life until our day comes to go to heaven, so that is how the name came about. My life has been all about Jesus, nature, and all of its surroundings since I was very young. The name fit when I typed it in. :)

Happy trails!

Calvin and Hobbes: Silly Putty

Calvin reminds me of this kid in our neiborhood. There is nothing that he wont try to get away with and he's so cute in his ways of going about each task. My dad says all boys growing up have a little Calvin in them.

Weekend Chore List

Here it is a Saturday morning and as usual, I'm up at 5am. How many people in this world get up at 5am on a weekend? I know none of my friends do. None! Unlike them, who can sleep until noon, I have chores to do. No one gets me up except for my alarm clock. I have been getting up early my whole life. It also makes for a longer day too which is good when you have other things you want to do after the chore list is finished. The chore list was created by me and only I do the list. What's on the list?

• Make my bed and straighten my room. (they count as one task.)
• Make coffee for me and the rest of the fam.
• Sweep off the rear porch.
• Feed the rabbits. (this can take an hour to one and half hours)
• Refill the bunny boxes (they are our cages) with branches and hay, bark, etc.
• Clean and wash out the rabbit poop bins.
• Take the trash out from the Bunny Barn. (the place we keep the 300+ rabbits)
• Sweep and mop the Bunny Barn floor.
• Make sure the automated water system is working.
• Make sure the ventilation is working.
• Make sure the ac or heat is working.
• Wash the cleaning utensils, sink, and counters. Done!

By now its close to 10am if I get started by 6am, and our volunteers show up to help with keeping the bunnies company and usually there is someone that shows up that wants to adopt or just look at the bunnies. With an average of 20 bunnies being adopted each week and maybe around 35 coming in each week, it can get hectic here on weekends. Thank goodness for the great volunteers who come and help out on weekends, or it could become a headache. My family and friends help each day, so without them, I couldn't do this by myself. Just the chore list is mine and mine only.

Happy trails!

The Wasp

I had to edit this a little bit as the F bomb was used in it way too many times. I don't like the F word and it didn't need to be used in this to get your attention either. You will see where I put in my own words and it's still gets the point across without the F word. Do take the warning of this wasp message seriously though, as they are not something you want to mess with, no matter your experience with them. Being a bee-keeper doesn't qualify you as an expert in wasps or hornets. Hornets are worse btw. I learned that the hard way about eight years ago when I feel into a hornets nest by a pond. I hurt for weeks after that. Wasps can inflict the same kind of pain if you are not careful. They are not afraid of anyone or anything, except for maybe a can of Raid or some other wasp killer. If you do come in contact with one or more, stop moving. Let them fly around you and they will carry on with what they were doing, usually with no stinging or attacking you. Swatting at them is a no no and only makes them mad. They call in reinforcements if you start swatting at them. Not good then.   

Poem: Five Baby Bunnies

Do you like poems about bunnies? I love them as they bring me closer to them and make me smile and feel warm all over hearing them, and writing them too.

Five Baby Bunnies

Five baby bunnies hopping out to play,
Hopping in the forest on this joyful Easter Sunday.

The first baby bunny carried his new cane,
He twirled it as he came hopping down the lane.

The second baby bunny came to the rivers brink,
Tasted the cool water and took a long, long drink.

The fourth baby bunny skipped down the shady lane,
He opened his umbrella just in case of rain.

The fifth baby bunny said, "Oh look what I see,
Lots of colored eggs hiding along side of baby bunny number three."

So cute and loving.  :)

Custom Rabbit Cages

This one to the left is a Custom Condo for your rabbits. It has all the safety and surroundings your bunny could ever need, including natural grass, fresh air, a ramp to and from each level, a hay filled bottom inside the living quarters, play toys, nibble branches, easy access doors for bottom and top, anchor straps on each corner for bad weather (I suggest moving them inside for extreme weather), a shingled and angled roof for rain runoff, and snakeproof wire cage. The water bottle and food are done manually, though some do have an auto system to refresh there daily requirements. You still have to manually clean it. This is perfect for a family of three fully grown rabbits, four if smaller.

We have 6 condos similar to this one that surround our Bunny Barn. The Bunny Barn is where we keep most of our wild/stray/unwanted bunnies. It is temparature controlled, can hold 400 bunnies if need be, and has many volunteers that come here daily to help out anyway they can. More on this later.

Happy trails!

Rabbit Cage Care

I recently read a complaint and question on a nature forum about this womans rabbit. I'm only going to post her main question and not all of her complaints:
"I have an indoor rabbit. Its driving me crazy. I dont want to use ANY woodshavings of any kind (too messy). Can I lay down just a towel or even just leave the cage bottom bare so I dont have to keep cleaning and changing the woodshavings in the cage?"

My answer:
Huh? A bare cage bottom? Having a rabbit as a pet is NOT to make YOU feel more comfortable because something is too messy. Let's say in a fantasy rabbit world, that two rabbits brought you home as a pet and they didn't like mattresses because they were too much to maintain, then they had you sleep on the bare floor. No fun in that is it? Your rabbit needs comfort just as we do. I'm not trying to insult you or put you down in any, but you can't tell us that you don't want to make your rabbit comfortable only because you don't like woodshavings can you? Part of having a pet is giving them comfort and love even if it's something you dont like to do. I think you should have done some more research on rabbits before getting one, as they are nothing like having a cat or dog. As for your question, woodshavings of all kinds are recommended for rabbits. They are also fine with gerbils and small mice. A towel is NOT recommended being the rabbit will urinate on it and it will stink badly, then you will have to throw it away everyday. Newspapers are a good choice as is a thin layer of hay, or even apple tree bark. You have to remember that they like to chew on things too and having something like a branch or some kind of non toxic bark in the cage, will only give them the surroundings most rabbits enjoy. Never leave the bottom of a cage bare no matter how thick there fur is. I have used cedar shavings in the past, but the shavings, like all shavings, tend to stick to the rabbits fur more than I would like it too. It's still a good choice for a bottom filler. The point is to make the rabbit comfortable. Rabbits like woodshavings. :)

The reply to what I had to say to this person was very defensive. Ugly and cruel is more like it, toward me and the rabbit. I will keep from posting the reply here, just know that I finally told her that I would make the trip to get her rabbit being it was making her life miserable, if she wanted me too. I mean, why have one at all if all you are going to do is complain about everything the rabbit does? Rabbits poop you know. Get over it! People like this are puzzling to me.

To my readers:
Maybe I was a little to forward in my reply but having rabbits is not that much work unless you have many of them. You must know this before you get one or more of them. We have over 300 of them. We rehab them, rescue them from mean people, rescue them from being euthanized, rescue them from weather disasters, care for them 24/7, and even have an adoption program through the county. We have a stockpile of tree branches and bark from North Carolina that is delivered here each month. Having 1 rabbit is nothing like having 300 of them, but we use the same concept as just having a single rabbit.

Happy trails!

Awkward Situations

Talk about being in the wrong place at the wrong time. This poor hunter is screwed! Can you imagine this being you - face to face with a man eating furry wild animal? What would you do? His rifle is out of reach, he is most likely reading a book that is about killing animals, and he is now almost nose to nose with it.

I know this picture is a fake, as it has to be. If this were a true situation, what would you do? First thing you should do is not move. Stay as still as you possibly can, and don't pay attention to the pee running down your leg, as it's yours anyway. Making any sudden move could be deadly. Just sit and don't stare at the animal. Staring back at any wild animal is a threat to them. On the comedy side to this, maybe tell a joke or blow a kiss at it might help. I don't know, just don't get up and run or yell, as this animal can run fast and it can yell louder than you can. lol

By the way, I'm on the animals side in this one. :)

Eyeing Nature

For the ones reading this that can go out into the woods or maybe a forest or even a nature trail, what is the first animal you usually see first? From my own experiences in many forests and nature related places I've been to, one animal has always been in each one and it's usually the same cute animal I see first. That one animal is none other than the squirrel. They seem to be everywhere. Most call them rodents, but unlike most other rodents, squirrels are cute to me, so I call them animals. lol Rats are rodents. They are ugly. Squirrels may look like a rat at times, but they are not ugly to me. Back to the point of this. Do you see squirrels the most in the wooded areas near you, or something else, like maybe blue jays, cardinals, hawks, or even the rarely seen eagle or rabbit?

I have rarely seen that many rabbits in the wild. I have on occasion come upon them in open prairies and have seen them in neighborhoods around here where I live. They are more common here in Florida than most people think. Squirrels though, I think we have around 3 in every tree and we have 15 trees in the backyard alone. Do I feed them? Yes I do. I feed them in the wild and in the parks. I know I'm not suppose to feed them, but I do it anyway as most of us do. I feed them nuts only. They wait on me each afternoon at the door too. I'm serious. They are so cute.

Fact: Squirrels live in almost every habitat from tropical rainforest to semi-dry deserts, avoiding only the high polar regions and the driest of deserts.

I have often wondered if squirrels existed in jungles where monkeys rule the kingdom of trees. From my research they do exist, just they dont roam as freely as they would in any other wooded area. If I were a squirrel and had a monkey in the same tree or in the tree across from me, I dont think I would be roaming around that much either. Would you? lol

Feel free to comment and any of my posts. Thanks for reading more of my jibberish. (I love that word).

Happy trails!

Easter Bunny Facts

Do you believe in the Easter Bunny? I do! Yeah!

In legend and old folklore tales, the bunny brings baskets filled with colored eggs, candy and sometimes also toys to the homes of children on the night before Easter. Some compare the Easter Bunny to Santa Claus.

Why the colored eggs? I did some reading on this and most have no idea. I asked my grandma to see if she might know the real meaning of the colored eggs tradition and she said they represented the changing colors of the flowers during spring time. That made perfect since to me.

Why a bunny though? Why not a fox or maybe a deer? Have you ever wondered why a bunny was chosen to represent Easter? Fear Not, I have the answer. lol It seems fertility has more to do with it than anything else. Eggs, like rabbits and hares, are fertility symbols. Since birds lay eggs and rabbits and hares give birth to large litters in the early spring, these became symbols of the rising fertility of the earth at the Vernal Equinox. Vernal Equinox meaning

Rabbits and hares are both prolific breeders. The females can conceive a second litter of offspring while still pregnant with the first. I bet you didn't know that. This is where the term "to breed like bunnies" come from.

Now you know why bunnies were chosen to represent Easter. Did you learn something from this? I sure did.

Happy trails everyone. :)